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Here are some of the responses I received. Hopefully I've got a good mix of
how different people have chosen to keep their kitchens based on the ages of
people in the family, the age of the person(s) diagnosed, and their
sensitivity level: 

" My seven-year old son is GF, but there are four others in the house that
are not.  While we do no non-GF baking (no flour because of the risks), we
do have bread, cereal, and other items as they arise.  We have a dedicated
gluten counter.  All gluten products must only be prepared on this portion
of the counter (about four feet worth).  Likewise, on the otherside of the
sink, there is the GF prep area where my wife (mostly) does all of the GF
prep.  We also have a shelf in the refrigerator and pantry for gluten
items."

" We did have my husband eating wheat bread in the house and he baked it and
cut it in the basement, but when he went GF himself and the house was
finally 100% GF I was noticeably better."

" I am the only celiac in my family.  My house has equal gluten free and
regular food.  We are just careful with utencils and keeping counters
clean.  I have never had a problem with this and I have had celiac for 21
years."


 

" My son is the only one in our household with celiac.  We are probably half
and half. 

I have separate cereal (Rubbermaid) containers for cereal.  His has his name
on it.
When I make pasta, I make them in separate pans.
I have 2 pizza pans (one gf, one not)
I have bread for us and his is kept in the freezer.  He has a drawer in the
freezer with different bread-type products (bagels, English muffins,
muffins, etc.) and we have a separate drawer with similar items.
I do have wheat flour, but hardly ever use it.  Whenever I bake, I use
gluten-free flours.
I have two snack baskets in the pantry and they're marked. One with his name
and the other with my other son's name.
I only buy gluten-free "canned" products.  I have both kinds of pasta and
keep the gluten-free in a separate basket.
Store bought cookies are kept separate.
When I make cookies, I make them gluten-free only.
I have two different toasters.

Some people may not agree, but I believe when I clean, I get rid of the
gluten.  I'm conscience of when I make certain things.  My other son and
husband may warm up tortillas directly on the rack in the oven.  When they
do that, I clean the rack afterwards.  When I rinse the pasta, I rinse the
gluten-free first.  When I make pancakes, I mix up the gluten-free first and
have a separate pan for making gf pancakes.  Over the years, pancakes seem
to leave a residue.  For this reason, I always use a separate skillet for
it.  I make sure I use separate spoons when stirring the pasta around.
Cross-contamination is always in my head.  He's been diagnosed for 10 years,
so I don't have to "think to hard" anymore about keeping things clean from
gluten.  It's second-nature.

I know many people that make the whole house gluten-free.  It's expensive
for one thing.  It's definitely less work if you were only one or the other.
One other thing.  I feel that if we made the whole household gluten-free, I
would be giving my son a little bit of false security.  It's not like that
in the real world.  He has to eat around kids with pizza and birthday cake.
He's 16.  When he's in college and then working, he will have to deal with
these situations constantly.  In the beginning, I found that I stopped
buying wheat snacks for my other son, to protect my son with celiac's
feelings.  My other son starting resenting the whole thing.

I feel we've found a balance and it works for us."

" We do not have a GF household.  We do buy as much GF things as we can, but
I still have my quick convenience non-GF items like pasta mixes, and breads
etc.  Our jars/tubs/sticks of margarine, jelly, mayo, mustard, etc is bought
squeezable when possible.  I try not to contaminate and if I did, I mark a
"no" sign on the outside of the package (and do so of anything
questionable).  We use the same pots and utensils.  We've bought different
colored utensils like cooking spoons so we can keep track of which one is GF
while cooking.  I use parchment and silicone mats on our cookie
sheets--better for the GF cookies and easier on clean up.  I don't use the
pizza stone for anything GF since it really isn't supposed to cleaned.  If
we ever made GF pizza, he would have his own stone (but we don't do cheese
either...).  We do have separate toasters and his is kept very high so noone
will contaminate it if they visit us (my DH is very tall).
 
Not sure how this will change as our baby gets older--depends if he is GF or
not.  So far, we're testing the gluten with him."

" I have been GF for almost 20 years and my teen daughter now for 3 or 4
years.  My husband and younger daughter are not.
 
Besides having a dedicated GF toaster, we tend to share everything.  We just
cook spaghetti noodles in separate pots or cook the GF item first (such as
pancakes on the griddle).  What I make sure we do is label everything that
is homemade and not in a package.  That way there are no mix-ups.  I also
use parchment paper when making cookies- they don't burn and it is another
layer of safety to the cookie sheet.
 
We also use the "glop and drop" method without condiments.  No double
dipping into the jar of mayo or peanut butter!  The only time we ever have
issues is if we have company, but I am pretty vigilant about that.
 
When my girls have friends spend the night, even their friends know that the
GF pancakes come first!"
 

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